Cuisine / German, Swiss & Austrian Cuisine
As more German tourists come to Thailand than from any other European country, and as a large number of Germans has settled in Thailand, one finds a good number of authentic German restaurants in Bangkok. They are even more numerous in Pattaya. In contrast to the French restaurants which are patronized by a mix of people of many countries, among them of course many Thais, German restaurants have a tendency of catering principally for the German market. Often their price levels are lower than those of French and Italian restaurants, though there are also a few German first-class restaurants around.
No cuisine of the world relies as heavily on pork as the main meat as does German cuisine. In Germany like anywhere in the world the most ordinary way of preparing pork (in German: Schwein) is as Koteletts (chops); but this is not the most typical German way. More characteristic of German cuisine is Schweinebraten (pork roasted in the oven for one to two hours). Pig knuckles are roasted in the same manner, particularly in the southern part of Germany. If correctly prepared, the skin is deliciously crisp. The secret lies in carefully brushing the skin with the knuckles?own fat every ten minutes.
Typical for northern Germany is another preparation of pig knuckles. There the knuckles are salted and marinated in a spice mixture that contains vinegar and then cooked in water. Knuckles prepared this way are called Eisbein. If prepared well Eisbein is very tender, even the thick skin, and it has a unique underlying dry taste.
Eisbein is practically always accompanied by Sauerkraut. Sauerkraut is cabbage, fermented with salt in its own juice and seasoned with a number of spices among which caraway (in German: Kuemmel) is predominant. Fermented, the cabbage is much more pleasant to digest as it no longer produces bad body odors as does raw cabbage. Fermented cabbage also doesn’t have the unpleasant smell that is typical when raw cabbage is cooked.
Sauerkraut is so uniquely German that Americans after World War II have turned the short version of the word Sauerkraut, Kraut, into a nickname for anything German. German soccer teams are referred to as krauts in the US and Great Britain, and rock ‘n roll produced in Germany was baptized kraut rock.
German cuisine is famous the world over for its Wuerste (sausages). There is an amazing diversity. The most ordinary German sausage is Bockwurst made of fine ground meat and fat. It is commonly served boiled in thick German vegetable soups or grilled and topped with a lot of mustard. Other original German sausages include Muenchner Weisswuerste (white sausages that are boiled and served with a hearty, sweet mustard), Bratwuerste (white sausages for frying), and Nuernberger Schweinswuerste (small pork sausages, normally accompanied by Sauerkraut). There is also a large variety of cold cuts (Aufschnitt in German).
Special kinds of sausages are blood and liver sausages (in German: Blut- und Leberwuerste). They are either produced to be eaten cold on bread just like Aufschnitt sausage; or, in a more original way, they are made to be eaten hot a few hours after slaughtering. Served with Sauerkraut, they taste incredibly good.
It’s not as bad as in Poland, but still, the Germans do eat a lot of potatoes. Actually, potatoes (in German: Kartoffeln) are not even considered vegetables in German cuisine but are rather seen as starch. There is a 80 % chance that a German meal will be accompanied by a rather big serving of potatoes. Normally they are just simply boiled and taste fairly neutral. To add their own taste to a meal is not really what the Germans want from potatoes. They are supposed to taste rather neutral as the particular taste of a meal comes rather from the meat and the sauce.
German food is more hearty than Italian or French foods, and it tends to be very filling and satisfying. However, the Germans need fewer plates than the French and Italians. Vegetables, meat, and potatoes are not served separately but normally come on one big plate. It is common to have a soup in advance, and to serve a salad on a small plate with the main course.
Even though no other country has such a wide variety of breads, bread is normally not served with a warm meal. It is German style to have a warm meal only for lunch and to eat bread and Aufschnitt sausage for supper and breakfast.
The most hearty German cuisine is from the federal state of Bavaria. Munich probably has the highest density of butcher shops in all of Germany; one can be found in every other street. They not only function as retail stores but also as canteens. Almost all serve fresh hearty meat loaf (in German: Leberkaes). In Bavaria they eat a lot of Leberkaes for breakfast; and because beer goes so well with Leberkaes, the Germans, particularly in Bavaria, start drinking as early as breakfast.
Meat loaf and a large number of German sausages are available in Bangkok and Pattaya of the same quality as in Germany. They are produced by a number of German restaurants with their own butcher shops.
More famous than German food is German beer. Munich is without doubt not only the beer capital of Germany but also the beer capital of the world. The city alone produces dozens of beers and the number was even larger at the beginning of the century when one brewery just served a few restaurants and a small neighborhood.
Many of the beers popular in Munich are quite different from those available throughout the world as for example the white beers (Weissbier). The main ingredient is wheat not barley, and the yeast is not filtered out but remains in the bottle and continues the fermenting process. Such beers are commonly not exported because they can only be stored for a very limited time.
Munich is not only famous for the quality of its beers but also for the quantity consumed by the locals there. The regular glass for drinking beer in Munich, particularly in the summer, holds no less than one liter. In the Munich beer gardens and at the Oktoberfest, if you don’t want a liter the waitress will tell you to go home (or order coke).
The beers of Munich are comparatively light. Therefore they are not very typical for German beers in general. Beers from other parts of Germany are stronger and have a distinct bitter taste; compared to these beers most Asian brews seem sweet.
Germany is so associated with beer that it is widely forgotten that she also produces fine wine. Gourmets are said to prefer the wines of Baden (a region in the Southwest of Germany, along the French border). The wine yards of Baden have a volcanic soil which produces a special taste. It’s hard to describe the taste of a wine beyond saying that it is sweet or less sweet (in wine terminology: dry). But experts claim they can taste the lava in Baden wines.
Swiss cuisine varies only little from German cuisine. It’s less hearty but finer. Swiss cooking does not make as much use of innards for the production of sausages as does German cooking, and fermenting food is less common. In general, Swiss cuisine is a combination of German and French cuisine.
Switzerland produces a great variety of cheeses, particularly hard cheeses; among them are Appenzeller and Emmenthaler. Emmenthaler is so typically Swiss that in Germany it is simply called Schweizerkaese (Swiss cheese). It is world famous less for the taste but for the large holes. Of course they are not carved but a result of gas from the fermenting process.
Whereas a large number of Swiss meat dishes are much the same as German meat dishes, the cheese dishes are really unique. Among them is cheese fondue, made of melted cheese to which white wine and spirits are added. Bread cubes are dipped into the melted cheese on long forks.
Cheese fondue is a complicated dish seldom eaten at home, even in Switzerland, but mostly at restaurants. Not only does its preparation require special know how and care; also needed is a unique table set. The cheese must be kept warm during the whole dinner, and therefore a special pot is used with a small alcohol flame underneath.
The melted cheese must have a creamy texture and completely bind the wine. The standard cheeses used are Emmenthaler and Gruyere. While Emmenthaler is a fairly fat cheese, Gruyere is a hard cheese with low fat content. The Gruyere is needed to reduce the fat content of the mixture.
Another unique Swiss cheese dish is Raclette. But actually Raclette is rather a way of eating than a way of cooking. To eat a cheese in Raclette style a loaf of cheese is held near a heater until the edge starts melting. Then the melted part is scraped onto a plate and eaten with a garnish of mixed pickles, fried potatoes, and bread.
Fondues are also made of meat, seafood, and even chocolate. For a meat fondue (Fondue Bourguignonne) cubes of beef tenderloin are served raw and then individually deep-fried by the guest in a pot of hot oil in the middle of the table. Like the cheese for the cheese fondue, the oil is kept hot by an alcohol flame under the pot. The deep-fried tenderloin cubes are eaten with a variety of sauces.
For a seafood fondue, shrimp, clams, squid, and other seafood is deep-fried and eaten with various sauces in the same style.
Chocolate fondue is handled like a cheese fondue. Either British style biscuits or cubes of fruits, in Thailand preferably mango and pineapple, are dipped into melted chocolate.
Fondues are a social matter. Hardly any dish is more suitable for festive occasions. In restaurants they are commonly served in orders for at least two guests.
Austrian cuisine differs only a little from German cuisine, though is does feature a certain Eastern European influence. It has integrated some Eastern European, mainly Hungarian, cooking characterized by the use of much paprika (large green and red bell peppers) and the use of more beef than pork. There is in Austrian cuisine even influence from as far East as Turkey (the Turkish Ottoman armies once put the Austrian capital of Vienna under siege), but less in food than in beverages. Coffee was introduced to the West by the Turkish via Austria, and still today Austria has the best developed coffee culture in all of Europe.
It’s a funny happenstance that many people think of Wiener Schnitzel (breaded cutlet) as an Austrian dish. First, it’s not at all typical for Austrian cuisine because Wiener Schnitzel is normally served without sauce; but Austrian cooking is noted for heavy, delicious sauces.
Second, a Wiener Schnitzel is supposed to be a veal cutlet; but veal cutlets are uncommon in Austrian (and German) cuisine; therefore, what is often served in German restaurants as a Wiener Schnitzel is actually a pork cutlet (officially defined as Schnitzel Wiener Art - cutlet prepared the way of a Wiener Schnitzel).
And third, "Wiener Schnitzel" is a misnomer anyway because it originates not from the Austrian capital of Vienna (in German: Wien) but from the French city of Vienne. This explains why a so-called "Wiener Schnitzel" is so untypical for Austrian cuisine.
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